Little Bird, Little Bird
"Little Bird, Little Bird" is also called "Fly Through My Window". It's similar to the song "Bluebird, Bluebird"...
Little Bird, Little Bird
Circle Game
Little bird, little bird fly through my window,
Little bird, little bird fly through my window,
Little bird, little bird fly through my window,
And buy molasses candy.
Fly through my window, my sugar lump,
Fly through my window, my sugar lump,
And buy molasses candy.
Blue bird, blue bird fly through my window,
Blue bird, blue bird fly through my window,
Blue bird, blue bird fly through my window,
And buy molasses candy.
Fly through my window, my sugar lump,
Fly through my window, my sugar lump,
And buy molasses candy.
Game Instructions
Children stand in a circle holding hands high up in arches (to form the "windows" in the song). One kid is the Little Bird who flies in and out of the arches or "windows". During the second verse, the "bird" chooses another child by patting him/her on the shoulder. The second kid then becomes the "bird" who flies through the window.
Comments
Here's a version from "Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories: A Book for Bairns and Big Folk" (1904) by Robert Ford:
"The Blue Bird played by very small children, is rather pretty. The rhyme is:
Here comes a [blue] bird through the window,
Here comes a [blue] bird through the door;
Here comes a [blue] bird through the window,
Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.
Take a little dance and a hop in the corner.
Take a little dance and a hop on the floor;
Take a little dance and a hop in the corner.
Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.
The players dance round in a ring. One... being made 'it,' goes first outside, then into the centre. Her business now is to decide who shall succeed her; and according as the colour-word in the rhyme - red, blue, green, or yellow, etc. - corresponds with the dress of all the individual players in the successive singing, the ones spotted successively take their place in the centre, and the process goes on, of course, until all have shared alike in the game."
Thanks!